[Preview] Elder Scrolls Online: Crafting in Tamriel Revealed

Last week, members of our team were on hand with Zenimax developers to get a first hand look at several features in the forthcoming Elder Scrolls Online. First up: Crafting. Find out what crafting will look like in ESO and then join the discussion in the comments.

Well folks, it is finally here: a firsthand look at Crafting in Elder Scrolls Online. This past week we got to play the game for a long while at Zenimax Online Studios and crafting was in there. We stumbled upon it, brewed some Dawnstar Ale and cheered! From what we have seen so far, the Crafting system does not disappoint. With ingredients and additives available all over for players to find, the system encourages experimentation. Also the breakdown of Crafting Professions is very much Elder Scrolls at heart. So let’s take a full look.

considering that you can enchant even dropped items and that this is Elder Scrolls not WoW, most likely craft and dungeon drops will be equal... though that does bring up another question: will there be dungeon specific items for crafting? 'cause from my point of view, that's pretty much the only way that crafting and raiding would be equal and at the same time tied together.

How tough is it to craft everything in game?Example is it your typical need a Raid to fight the very baddest boss to get the ingredients?That design always turned me off because if i can already beat the baddest boss,why do i care to get the ingredients afterwards?

Also the term "experimentation" is a little misleading.Example in FFXi you had to learn almsot everything in craftinmg aside from the few examples the npc would hint at.This design sounds more like everything is known,just the imbue items add properties.I sort of foresee not much left to actually leave to experimentation.Example i foresee something like having an item named frost ore as an imbue item,pretty easy to determine what that is used for right?An ice based elemental property.

I am all for advanced crafting ,i love crafting in games.Another problem is see is the "you can do all 5 but won't master them".This design does not sit well because we all know games do not design themselves around low end gear/items,they design themselves based on players having the best.So anyone not doing the 2 mastered crafts will never have anything useful,at least not in the sense of a finished product,their might be usefullness in separate items made,this was not mentioned.

How do you find the recipes that are not racial and how really useful is the crafting,most games make crafted items second or third tier to drops.I know the ysaid everything can be made,so it kinda leads into first question,how to attain the very best recipe and items to make those mastered crafts ?

Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.

Also one other thing,was the comment on EVDERYTHING can be crafted a bit misleading,or is this FACT??

Reason i ask is becuase i think MOST if not all players like the possibility of discovering rare drops,yo utake that element out of the game and allow everything to be crafted,it might turn off a lot of players.

Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.

Traditionally, players have to save up gold then use alts to craft. Getting to a master level of crafting typically costs a lot of money. I'm not seeing anything really different other than crafted gear is on par with raid gear. And I'll believe that when I see it.

This sounds promising but I hope that hardcore raiders don't affect the dev decisions. Nothing is worse than when a raider complains that only he/she should have the best weapons in the game because they beat the hardest boss at the time.

It does not affect you if someone else has an equally powerful weapon at all in PvE. Stop worrying about others, and play the game for yourself.

The only people who could possibly complain would be pvpers, but then again, if you are good pvp'er you should care about being on equally geared levels with others, because its your skills that make you good at pvp, not the gear, right?

@Mackeh What? You do know that WoW actually gained a chunk of number after moving away from the world pvp model right?

@Garret Did you see anything in terms of binding? As in drop/no drop? It sounds like you have to give crafters your loot to allow them to break it down/enhance it, which is super easily abused by trolls and thieves, did you see anything to address that potential issue?

I did battle with ignorance today, and ignorance won.

To exercise power costs effort and demands courage. That is why so many fail to assert rights to which they are perfectly entitled - because a right is a kind of power but they are too lazy or too cowardly to exercise it. The virtues which cloak these faults are called patience and forbearance.

Know this right now Mr. Fuller, I hate you and I envy you at the same time. Lucky dog gets to go play ESO already.

If you can answer a question Garrett: You state "They also said that if you get some great high level gear from a dungeon run or beating a boss in another zone you will be able to enhance them through Crafting." Is this more like WoW's Enchanting or more like Asheron's Call Tinkering? Please tell me its the latter!!!!

Sandbox means open world, non-linear gaming PERIOD!

Subscription Gaming, especially MMO gaming is a Cash grab bigger then the most P2W cash shop!

Bring Back Exploration and lengthy progression times. RPG's have always been about the Journey not the destination!!!

"they want it on par with raid gear" - yeah i'll believe that when it happens just wait till the raiders get to the forums and cry because "a casual didn't "work" as hard as they did to obtain the gear".

i remember Trion said this with Rift as well, that crafted gear will be on par with raid gear, that lasted till the first new raid zone.

Originally posted by Ecoces"they want it on par with raid gear" - yeah i'll believe that when it happens just wait till the raiders get to the forums and cry because "a casual didn't "work" as hard as they did to obtain the gear".i remember Trion said this with Rift as well, that crafted gear will be on par with raid gear, that lasted till the first new raid zone.

Yep. How many times have we heard that same tired old line.

Lol, I remember that in Rift. When they finally made some crafted items that were raid quality it was because the mats only dropped in raid level instances.

Centuries ago, in primitive times, before the dawn of civilization, there were things that would be inconceivable to us today; such things as poverty, disease, violence, senility, and love.

This sounds like it could end up being a perfect crafting system. I only have two complaints and that is being limited to 1000 crafting skill points when it takes 800 to master a single skill and my second is that weapons and armour are seperate now I'm going to have trouble choosing =P.

Now the one question I have and now if implemented correctly this will be amazing, but from how it sounds we are going to be very reliant on other players for enhancing our items. Now how is this going to be handled? I feel simply trading someone an item to be enhanced will be a disaster because what will prevent them from simply running off with it. I know trust is important in a community but no matter how much you want to you can't always trust strangers. So is there going to some form of lending system where we are able to just lend someone an item for a short amount of time to be enhanced?

Also with such a major focus on community crafting I would love to see player run shops by the most skilled crafters that would be amazing but not sure how easily that could be implemented.

Edit: Ok I simply watched the interview and did not read the article but now I have done both. In the video it says you can master one skill but in the article it says you can master two which is it?